Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-12-24
DuvERsuONs OF A DuPiOMAT.
Extracts From SUNSET Cox's New Deei
On Turkey.


On Turkey.
rDcuIlARYfID or LIvR m PHRA-TURKNl pn1-
LADDln-PERsoNAL KKnIxDCENCss-scKNRs IN
THE REPRESENTATIONS AND THEIR oocurA-
TroNa
"During the fall Of 1885 and the winter OF 1885,
80 we soJourn In Pera, at the Hotel Royal The
hotel is near the ofces OF the legation The Ques-
ton is often asked: How do you pass the timer
! answer that we never tire OF the endless and
dramatic transformation scenes OF the street; I
mean 80 far as the population n concerned There
Is interesting employment fur lefeure hours In
watching the contrasts In the daiiy ooservances
OF life. street railway jostles the sedan chair;
steamship wheels about . vessel as ancient In
style as the Roman galleys; . carriage rumoles
into flock OF goats and sheep. whose shepherd
has on veritable sheep-skin; and so on.
'Tn our neighborhood In Pera everything is sold
wranses grow out the e pices and the CONDITIONS
OF sne bargain Inc sugar,deaier and eonfectioner
school.bags TO get their para to buy their candy.
Albanians compete with the Persian, and the
Sound ee and mk and csosseS All this
trafnc goes on In the street There Is nothing In
CoLstantinople that is hid except the harem.
a., "rou turn TO look In another direction Some one
"Oh, We mercitul! Six oranges and nve lemossi
soul OF my lamb! Lamb OF my souli Who will
take the rest OF my provender?'
Then the vinegar-man comeA Heis by no means
man OF sour aspect. He and the chimney-sweep
loin purses and buy out the oranse.man; and yet
IN one moment, without premonition, the call OF
the Muezzin comes shrflly up the valley and from
many minarets beyond and around At once traf.
nc ceases ana deyotions begin Even the Chris,
reverent. The prayer said the trafiic Is resumed.
am arrested by sOL,e cry that SOUNDS like Amer
icanicor What d Is it mean? II is from Jew.
II Il
Lowell. II is unbleached calico! America forever!
furnishing the Orient with fabrics!
"At every corner you meet those who sell all
kinds OF sweets These sweets are In every i'm
aginable shape from ng-paste and bonDons TO the
nas fruits sncn as p0megranates and oranges
ket upon the streets near the English legation. II
is odOrOus with fish; for these are not the en-
chanted fish so much worshiped In the Greek
Church. Still there is a great variety, from the
mackerel turbot, red mullet and soles, to the un-
known shining and many-hued finny creatures.
the yahOort sour milk as well as snails In abun-
dance, which are eaten by the Greeks The
oysters sold In the market are OF a coppery quail
ity, and too inferior to be for a moment regarded
by the American palate,
''The striking popularity OF Pera, as well as OF
sumed BY ali classes In the street. The meals are
taken on the wing. The coffee houses, cooking es-
adjustments and restaurants are not only open
all the time, but they are almost upon the street
itself IL Is not unusual respectable families
even In their vehicles stop upon the street, guam
their glass OF water from an itinerant vender,
carve their long loaves OF bread, or eat their
.simits,' or circular pretzels, or their nat, un-
ieavened cakes"
SCENES AT A FIRE.
"'Destoor! Ydnghen VAR Make way! A fire
-thereis. When these Turkish words, thus liter
ally translated, are sounded in the streets OF
STEAMBOAT or Pera, the unaccustomed auditor looks
out for q sensation. He will not look In vain. IL
is the warning OF fire; and when from the towers
OF Seraskier or from the top OF the tower OF alata
the vivid crimson light throws its beacon the
cities on either side OF the Golden Horn, strange
SOUNDS are emitted from the nrenen. Talk
about your Indian war-whoop OF the wild
West or that OF the YahoOs or interior Africa!
that goes up from the half naked hremen, who,
with ba{e heads, hairy bOs0ms and sweating
bodies, rush through the streets Of these cities,
which is TO play Its baby part upon the nre, and
play, alas In vain; for 1t only provokes and does
not extinguish. Ydnghen Var, Far on that
shrek Is heard. 1t approaches nearer and nearer.
Then come other pompters, bearing long poles with
hoOAs 70 them, and coils OF rope and then the axe.
men; AM ne every man Of them on yell and AL
with lamentable length OF syllable agony for
which there is no expression In the human lexi-
con-"
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
81 had some experience with fire in the Hotel
Royal In one OF my rooms owing to the burning OF
the curtains by servant; but the flremen happl-
~ Old not come until myself had put out the IRE,
which was consuming the bedclothes, curtains
window stills and furniture. When they did come
in with the police, had more trouble to put them
out than the fire. They hung around, and
hung around, SO suspciousy mat l had to
keep my eye on all the uncOnsumed property. As
there were some half dozen languages spoken by
the servants, porters and others-during the blaze
1t was a most comical scene. All the women OF the
hotel-American, Greek, Sav, Italian and Turk
join In the insane hullabaloO. Their persistence
In keeping up their noisy presence long after the
fire is out compes Inc finally to read a sort OF riot
and to explain TO the chief OF the police, who
had to be sent for, that the tnter-tertoality be-
longing TO a foreign minister is Indispensable for
the occasion; and thus / get rid Of them. after
much unntelligible 1abber, during which an on
cial endeavOrS to make an inventory OF all the
hotel propertieS-w1Lh a view to reclamation.
"Next In number 10 the ArmenianS In Pera are
the Aibanians- They sell trunks, honey, and gro
ceries The small grocers and workers In Iron
come from Ciesarea. Janina and Salonica fur
nish the carpenters; TURKS from Trebizond, the
woOd-cutuers; Greece and Bulgaria, the vegetable
vendors; the mlkmen and the gardeners are ul
every nationality; but the Persian commands the
donkey brigade. Owing TO the lack OF vehicles,
the donkey does the main work. Laden with
building materials and furniture, he heaves up
the high hill with huge loads, while the Montene-
grin and the Croat, without much rivalry, do the
digging with spade and pick-axe. The Kurds are